


sinking in the distance

by Zerrat



Category: Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard, Drakengard 3
Genre: Branch A, DLC compliant, F/M, Gen, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 14:10:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2550410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of Homunculus, Cent brings Two to One.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sinking in the distance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lionsenpai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionsenpai/gifts).



> Thanks to kc for her damn ideas.
> 
> While fighting Homunculus in Two's DLC, I kept wondering, "where the heck is One in all of this? This is her city, what happened?"
> 
> And so I guess this is what I came up with.
> 
> Title adapted from the lyrics of Two's battle themes, the translation which can be found [here](http://drakengard-3.com/blog/2014/01/23/soundtrack-credits-liner-notes-and-lyrics/).

One was alone in the Cathedral's grand throne room when she felt a shift in the city's magic. It was subtle, yes, and on the other side of the city, but it was unusual. That alone was enough to sound the alarm bells in One's mind. She doubted that Zero could be the source of such a disturbance - the word "subtle" was not one in that woman's vocabulary contained, but methods aside...

Five's latest reports had advised that the their dear older sister had returned to the Land of Seas just weeks gone. Amidst all the curling innuendo Five loved to weave into her correspondence, One had learned that Zero had managed to snare herself a young dragon for her purposes. 

For all her many flaws, Zero was not a fool - she would not yet be staging an all-out attack on the Cathedral City. 

Still, One had to wonder what had occurred in her city and why, and she almost regretted sending away her retainers for the afternoon. Their questions and movements, the sound of breathing, the sound of life itself had been shattering her focus, setting her on edge no differently than nails against a chalkboard. 

_Perhaps the flower simply wishes to drive me mad with my senses, if I will not bow down and destroy the world of my own accord._ One's lips curled upwards slightly at the gallows humour, and she turned her attention back to her book. _Its methods become less and less direct as the days wear on. How could I have ever misinterpreted its magic in the first place?_

Her forehead creased in a frown when she heard the front doors to the Cathedral swing open, the steady pounding of boots upon the thousand steps to the top reverberating through the stone in rolling, coalescing echoes. She knew who it was long before he reached the top, listening to him swear desperately underneath his breath, the tempo of his heartbeat and harsh rasp of his breath building up in her head until it was agony -

 _Cent should not be here,_ One thought, her irritation growing with the tight pain at her temples. _Cent should be in the Land of Sands, acting as the counterbalance to Two, a steadying hand to guide her and serving as an outlet for the desires that consume us all so profoundly._

But he was not, and neither was he alone. His steps sounded much heavier than usual, almost as if bearing the dead weight of another -

One had just enough time to feel a sharp tug of alarm in the pit of her stomach before Cent slammed his way into the great hall, massive wooden doors cracking open and Two - _Two_ , how was that even possible? - cradled protectively in his arms. 

His eyes were wild, his expression stark and afraid - when he laid eyes upon One, it all melted away into a desperate sort of relief as he broke into a run for her. 

One watched him approach with her sister in his arms, frozen in place, her mind working desperately. Where had they _been_? They both smelled of rot and corruption so strongly it made One's stomach want to rebel, and there looked to be mucous and inhuman flesh clinging to Two's hair, skin, to the sword clutched in her hands in an impossible grasp. 

There was no expression on Two's beautiful face, One realised with a jerk as Cent slowed to a stop before her. There was no sign of laughter, no love, none of what made Two so adored by all - and that was what felt the most wrong.

"What happened?" The demand sprang from One's lips before she could think, and she was somehow on her feet then, her book falling forgotten on the dais. 

_Two._ One might as well have forgotten how to breathe, and she watched Cent lower himself slowly, carefully to his knees. 

His hands were gentle against Two's skin, painstakingly careful as he supporting her head and body. He settled her on the flagstones, stroking his fingers through her short blue hair and mumbling desperate platitudes in her ear that One was helpless to ignore - _you're safe now, it's over_. 

One swallowed, watching his hands on her sister, the heat that these days was so unbearable spiking up in her stomach. She ignored it. By the time One closed the distance between herself, Two and Cent in just a few quick strides, her breath was only slightly ragged, and she had control. 

One fell to her knees, the rest of the world melting away into nothing. With a trembling hand, she reached out for her sister, sick with fear.

One had hidden behind the protection of her gloves for a long time, but the moment she pressed her fingers to Two's warm cheek, she might as well have forgone them entirely. Searing heat flashed through her fingertips, up her arm and into her brain, and for a moment, One felt nothing but agony. 

Two needed One to hold it together, though. Two needed her to do something, and with an iron will that surprised even herself, One forced it all aside. Her fingertips still resting lightly against the curve of Two's cheek, the sweet curve of her lips, One swallowed her breathless pants and firmed her jaw. Slowly, she trailed the pads of her fingers down to Two's chin, and gently, she took it between her thumb and forefinger. 

Two's expression remained vacant as One tilted her head, looking into her eyes. There was no spark of life behind those incredible blues, no energy - no recognition, One realised with a bitter twist in her stomach. 

For all intents and purposes, Two was gone. 

One's throat constricted as she released Two's chin gently, her breath again coming shallow and fast. She swallowed, and her eyes cut across to the one who had brought her shattered sister to her. 

"Cent. What _happened_?" One repeated, and at some point she had started to shake. What could make _Two_ break in such a way, that she would no longer respond even to her sister? Two was strong. Two was able. She was balanced and goodness personified, in love with her disciple who also loved her back. 

Of all the sisters, One had been the least worried about Two. Two, who was the best of them, who used the power of her song to improve the the lives of the people. She alone truly was the goddess the people claimed - and One's last damn hope that the flower did not have to mean the end. 

She could hear the flutter of Two's heartbeat if she closed her eyes, the murmur of breath between her parted lips. The signs of life, but that was all. She wanted to laugh. Just this morning, she'd been driven to distraction by those very things in her retainers...

"My lady," Cent started, his voice cracking oddly in the middle. One watched him rally to try again. "I made a mistake." 

"A mistake," One echoed him, and slowly, she felt her hand clench into a fist. Her blood was pounding in her ears, her eyes, filling her every sense, and at the edge of her mind - at the edge of reason - One knew she could hear the song. 

Desperately, she pushed it away, relaxed her fist, released the breath she'd taken. She was angry - such a mild word for what she felt - but lashing out at Cent would not serve her. Despite that knowledge, One still couldn't meet his eyes, instead setting them stubbornly on Two's face. 

"In the vault, we..." Cent hesitated, and his fingers trailed Two's face, his touch tender. "I wanted strong soldiers, so I asked my lady to enhance them. She wanted to heal the orphans, and -" 

One met Cent's eyes only then, and immediately wished she had not. There was a haunted sort of horror in them, even when he looked down at the Intoner he'd been sworn to serve. His fingers, tracing absently through Two's curls, had started to tremble. 

"How could the song do that to humans?" Cent asked finally, his tone begging, and his expression spoke of monsters.

Two finally responded then, shuddering at the catch in his voice and collapsing in on herself at the very mention of the song. One's teeth clenched, and she wanted to badly to cast aside the burden of knowledge for the blissful ignorance she'd allowed her sisters. 

She knew exactly why the song had warped those children, those soldiers - why it had reached out through Two and used her as its unwilling tool. She wouldn't have even felt something go wrong - such was the nature of the flower that had created them. 

It truly could not abide the free will they'd all developed, One noted, her lip curling in helpless disgust even as Cent leaned forward. 

"You've got to fix her, my lady." His voice was rough and pleading, raw with tears he'd shed not long past. "She'd only wanted to help them. She meant them no harm!"

Two would never have been able to conceive of such a thing. The flower, it had always been the flower. First it had been Gabriella's life, even Michael's. It had driven Zero to confront them all and now - 

One couldn't stand the suffocating sense of helplessness - and the knowledge that they were all victims of some cosmic, nihilistic horror. Given her knowledge of what was and what would come to pass, One knew that she was only inviting ruin if she successfully brought Two back from the brink. 

But it was _Two._ If there had been any way for an Intoner to do a little good in this hell of a world, she would have found it. Two, with her big heart and bigger smiles. Two, with her odd recipes that somehow worked. 

Two, with her insistence on seeing One smile. 

One should not have even been considering it, but her throat was tight and her eyes were burning and the song was too strong in her ears. She pressed her hands to Two's cheeks once again, resting her forehead against her sister's - her touch as gentle and aching as any lover's. 

Two's skin was warm against her own, blindingly, horribly intense. This close, beneath the smell of corruption, One could smell roses, sweat and baked goods, and her breath caught strangely in her throat, somewhere between a sob and a sigh. 

She should not be doing this. She had a plan, however wretched, but Two was her first sister, they'd grown up together and now One had _lost_ her long before she was ready to -

One could not stop herself. She could not let it end like this, too soon, long before Zero emerged and began the slaughter anew. 

Instinctively, One reached out for the song ringing in her ears. She had to bring her sister back to her, mend her, anything. The magic filled her mind, coy and dancing and eroding her will, the call of the flower and the destruction it yearned for underpinning every note of the seductive power. 

One pulled Two forward, almost into her lap, her breath ragged. She could hear Two's heart pounding, always in rhythm with the song like a good Intoner - 

_\--why are they calling out to me? Why are they calling my name?" Two begs, and Cent has no answer. She knows, though. She understands and it's agony, that the song had chosen to turn on her and corrupt all she'd sought to bring about. It's too much to bear, too much to consider. Her mind shatters slowly, piece by piece with every stroke of her blade, the shards slipping away into a endless black abyss. It's a relief when it finally ends--_

One withdrew from Two, wordless, unable to stomach Cent and his hopeful stare. The back of her hand still lingered, and hesitantly, she brushed her knuckles along Two's cheekbone. Her sister's expression had remained vacant that whole time, as though One hadn't been delving deep into her mind. 

One's stomach continued to twist itself into knots, sickened by the horrors of Two's last sane moments. Sickened, and angry.

Her younger sister had been manipulated and bent and broken by the song. She'd known what One had kept from her, right at the end. She'd understood what was happening and why, and it had been too much for her to bear.

A part of One truly wished she'd been able to take that road, too. But somebody had to remain to finish Zero, to finish the flower. Somebody had to understand and stay strong. 

One could not force such a fate on kind, gentle, loving Two. She'd been so selfish to think to drag Two back into this life, where the flower waited and it would bring her only sorrow. One's throat constricted terribly, and for a moment, she wanted to reach out and hold her sister close. She wanted to tell Two that it would be over soon because Zero would be able to do all that One could not, that she'd make sure Two's suffering had not been in vain. 

One said nothing, however, not trusting herself with words. Instead, she rose to her feet and looked Cent in the eyes. 

"There is nothing I can do." The lie passed One's lips so easily. There was nothing she _would_ do, and from the stricken, angry expression on his face, Cent knew it. 

"My lady, you can't be -"

"I am." One looked down at her younger sister, and she made a silent promise to remember. She'd etch this moment on her soul, to galvanise her when all her choices seem too difficult. She had to remember what the flower had done, and that more blood would need to flow before it was over. 

Two had deserved so much better, though. One turned away from Two's broken body, and it hurt. 

"Lady One, you can fix her! I know you can! Lady Two always talked about how you were the most powerful of the Intoners but for Zero, and -"

"Then perhaps Two's salvation lies with _her_ ," One snapped, the words leaving her mouth before she could consider them. 

Cent jerked back, his entire body tensing as though she'd struck him, before his brow darkened and he climbed slowly to his feet. 

"Lady One, you must help her! You _have to!_ " He closed the distance between them in an instant, seizing One's shoulder in his hand, and all One could hear in that moment was Two's garbled thoughts rolling in her head in an incessant replay - _oh Cent I can't stand it anymore, please I'm scared -_

One gritted her teeth and cast Cent back with an unrefined blast of song, her head in agony from the unexpected sensation. She watched him struggle to his knees, again at Two's side, hoping he was smart enough to stay down next time. She did not want to deprive Two of her disciple, but if he touched her again...

"Know your place, disciple - with her." One's voice was like winter. "No matter the state of her mind."

Cent crouched by Two's side, but his expression was defensive and defiant. If he wished to risk One's wrath once more, he was an even bigger fool than One had thought. Her eyes narrowed, and for the last time, she turned her back on Cent. On Two.

She was done here, unable to force herself to continue such fruitless confrontations, unable to stand the angry, desperate begging. It was only when she reached the back doors that she heard Cent break into a run after her. Shaking her head, One used her magic to slam the door shut in his face, the bolts sliding into place and barring his path.

It did not spare her from hearing his pleas, though. 

"Please," Cent was grinding out from between his teeth. "I fucked up and I don't know what to do anymore! How the hell am I going to live with this?"

One forced herself to keep walking up the stairs to her chambers. She needed distance. She needed - 

"She loved you! How could you just turn your back on her?" 

One's breath caught in her throat, and it felt as though her whole damn head was pounding in time with his fists against her door. She leaned against the passageway wall, dizzy, and her control and coping mechanisms slipping dangerously. She could hear every creak of leather and sobbing breath, and beyond it all - 

"One," she heard Two murmur, just vaguely. 

Only then did One finally allow herself to break.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm... pretty sure I ship One/Two now wow.


End file.
